The Aptitude Test
by Percabethyesterdaytodayforever
Summary: A Divergent Fanfic. No orginial character though. Written by Shadow for an Instagram contest.
1. Chapter 1 - The Test

**Shadow - Light? Where'd Tris go?**

**Light - She doesn't belong to us, Shadow. And neither does Divergent.**

**Shadow - I was gonna ask her to do the disclaimer, but _apparently_ you beat her to it. **

I sit at the lunch table, my legs shaking. What will they say? What will be my faction? That is all that runs through my head as I sit among my Amity buddies. My yellow skirt shakes slightly as my knees knock together. And then I hear it, my name. "Margaret Smith" I hear a few other names I don't recognize. I stand, trying to hide the shaking, but it's useless. An Abnegation volunteer directs me to a testing room. I enter and all I see is my own reflection, multiplied, until it becomes endless. A moment later, a different door opens and another volunteer enters the room. By her gray clothing, she is clearly Abnegation. "Will you please sit in the chair?" She asks me quietly. I take a seat, grateful, because I felt like I was about to collapse. The volunteer attaches electrodes to my forehead, and hooks up the wires to the machines. She hands me a small vial of clear liquid. I take a sniff, and it smells like nothing. It looks like water, but I'm sure this is the serum, to have us enter the simulation. "Drink the serum please." she says. I take a deep breath, steel my nerves and throw the liquid down my throat.

A room appears before my eyes. It's the lunch room I just left, except empty this time. On the table directly in front of me, there are two baskets. One has a wedge of cheese and the other has a long knife. I take the knife, thinking that some protection is better than none. I hear a growl behind me, and the hair on my neck stands on end. I turn and find a dog staring at me and growling ferociously. I don't want to kill it. I know some about dogs, so I avoid his gaze and grab the cheese from the table. I approach him with the cheese, and the growling stops. I feel his tongue on my fingers and look over to see him continue to eat the cheese. No wonder they gave us cheese, dogs can't resist it. Then the simulation changes, A girl appears behind me, crying. The dog begins to approach, growling again. This time, I know I have no choice, and I throw the knife. I hear the sickening sound of it impaling the dog and turn away, not wanting to watch. Suddenly I am on a bus, and a Candor man is asking me if I know a criminal featured in the paper. I do know him, but I don't know how. I feel like he'll be hurt if I say I know him. If he's a criminal, he deserves to be hurt. The Candor man prompts me, "Well? Do you know him or not?" I take a breath before answering, "Yes, I know him." The bus dissolves and I'm back in the mirrored room. My heart pounding and breathing heavily.

The Abnegation woman, smiles but she appears confused, and like she is trying to hide something. "I'll be right back. Stay right here for me okay?" I wait in the chair, staring at the returns a moment later, and says " I know you're anxious to hear your result but there has been a perplexing situation. Now, you can't tell anyone, not your families, friends, anyone you hear me?" I nod "You are Divergent."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Choosing Ceremony

**Shadow - I guess since Tris hasn't been found yet, I'll do the disclaimer. Neither Light or I own Divergent.**

"Smith, Margaret." I hear them say. I stand and walk to the middle of the room. I drag the knife they give me across my palm. Candor, Amity, or Dauntless. That is my choice. I stare between the bowls. The Abnegation stone and Erudite water are out of the question. I rule out the bowl of earth for Amity, I don't want to go back there. I walk to the coals, But at the last moment, I hold my hand over the glass. I watch my blood run down the transparent surface. I am Candor.

I stand among my new faction members as the last people choose their faction. A wedge of black and white sits before me."Candor?" I ask myself. I know the answer though. I did mean to pick Candor. Honesty has always been my best quality, even if it didn't always keep the peace. I never did like the constant peacekeeping. I had a friend in Erudite that told me to avoid the bread. Something about peace serum? Oh here we go, we're leaving. Time to see my new home, I guess.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Merciless Mart

**Shadow: *Sounds of dragging*** **Light! I found Tris!**

**Tris: Get off me!**

**Shadow: No way! Get over here and do the disclaimer.**

**Tris: ...**

**Shadow: Do it.**

**Tris: No.**

**Shadow: Do it.**

**Tris: Do I have to?**

**Shadow: Yes!**

**Tris: Neither Shadow or Light own Divergent. Happy now?**

**Shadow: No. **

**Tris: Anything I can do to make you happy?**

**Shadow:... Give me Four.**

***Sound of a punch***

**Shadow: Owwwwwwww**

The Merciless Mart. My brother, Edward told me about the Mart. He described it well. I see him now and again, (long story), but he's factionless (longer story) and my parents refuse to see him, even when he sits on our front steps (You don't want to know). The faded facade, the mangy bushes, the clean windows, the black and white interior. I walk through the front doors, the black and white floor shining beneath my feet, my heels clicking. The awed faces of the faction transfers swarm in my peripheral vision. All I can think, is how much my yellow and red clothing stands out among the colorless room. I notice another initiate siddle up beside me. I glance his way and notice the arrogant smile and the look that says "I think I'm God's gift to mankind." I make an immediate mental note to avoid him. I hear another person come up on my left. Thinking "It might be good to check out the competition" I turn to look at her. Burning red hair, slight dusting of freckles, beautiful hazel eyes. I flashback to a conversation around the dinner table. My very religious family, conversing about, at least in their minds, how disgusting people who "play for the other team" are. I never did tell them I play for the other team. Oops. I realize I'm staring at the girl on my left still. I hastily look away, but she notices. She smiles at me and I give a small embarrassed smile. "I'm Rose." She says. "I'm Greta,"I respond, still slightly flabbergasted by her beauty. She leans over and whispers in my ear "By the way you were staring I'd say you're a lesbian, am I right?" I give a small nod azzand she smiles sassily "Me too. I never told my parents. They're really religious." I smile and say "I never told my parents either. Even though they were Amity, my dad would rant at dinner at least once a week at how disgusting gays are." She nods in agreement. She runs her palms down her gray pants and I can see the anxiety in her eyes. A woman appears in front of our group, where we had been idling for about 15 minutes. "Hello, Initiates! If the faction transfers could follow me, and the Candor born initiates could stay here please. I glance at my new friend, Rose, and shrug. We follow the women into a room off the main lobby. We sit in the chairs set up in front of a podium. Rose and I automatically gravitate to towards two chairs and sit down next to each other. The women that led us from the lobby makes her way up front to address us. "Welcome to Candor. My name is Isabelle. I will be your instructor. For your first stage of initiation, you will be trained to read body language. There are 11 of you here now and at the end of stage one, three of you will be cut. At the end of stage two, no one will be cut. But at the end of the last stage, two more people will be cut. Training will start tomorrow. For now, I will lead you to the dormitory and help you change into more Candor appropriate clothes. Come." We all stand and follow her down the halls and into a room with six pairs of simple bunk beds. Painted black with white sheets. The floor is checkered black and white, with white walls. "This is the dormitory." Isabelle states, with a sweeping gesture. "You may pick your own bunk." Isabelle says ,and Rose and I glance at each other. "I want top." I say, " I wanted bottom anyway," says Rose smiling. "Follow me," says Isabelle. We follow her to, what I guess is the center of the Mart. She takes us into a clothing store. "Initiates get free clothing from until they are either cut or accepted." Isabelle says to the group. "So pick what you want. Make sure you get enough for about a week. You can always come back here if you need or want more clothes. Go ahead." Rose and I head off together into the store. I find a rack of dresses and begin to browse. I find a knee length black dress with a white belt that I like. I pick up some standard tops, tank tops, short sleeve, long sleeve. Some solid colored, striped or polka dotted. I pick up a jacket and a couple sweaters on my way to the pants rack. I get some jeans and a couple skirts as well as a pair of shoes and a couple pairs of tights. I find Rose admiring a long white skirt with black polka dots. Isabelle shouts over the din of the store "You have twenty minutes initiates! We need to have time for you to change and, put your new clothes away before dinner." I poke Rose "Huh?" she says, startled. "Did you hear Isabelle's announcement or what?" I ask her. "Ummmmm." Rose stalls. "I'll take that as a no then. We have about twenty minutes before we have to leave." I say. "Oh, ok." Rose says. "I already have enough clothes. You want to poke around?" She asks. I shrug, "Sure, why not?" Rose picks up her basket of clothes and we continue through the store. We find a back wall of black and white jewelry and we each pick up a couple necklaces. "Time is up, initiates! Come to the front of the store please!" We hear the yell of Isabelle. We each pick up our baskets and make our way to the front of the store.I see that that Mr. Arrogant-Face has enough clothing for at least two months. I lean over to Rose, "Look at how much clothing Mr. Arrogant-Face has. That's enough for two months." "Mr. Arrogant-Face?" Rose, looks very confused. "Yeah, He's three ahead of us. The one with two baskets. He came up beside me earlier and has that look that says that he thinks he's 'God's gift to mankind.'" I clarify.  
"Oh, him. I know him. I don't know his name though. He was in some of my classes at school. An Erudite. They're often arrogant." She says as we move forward through the swift moving line. We get bags for our clothes and begin to move toward the dormitory. We get inside, and pick out some new clothes for dinner. I pick out the dress and a pair of white tights with a pair of black flats. I also put on a striped black and white sweater and a necklace that I bought, a simple white chain with a black teardrop shaped pendant. I pull my curly brown hair out of its bun. I stick a silver pin, that I brought from home, pinning my bangs back from my face. I come out of the bathroom and find that Rose has also changed. She wears the long white skirt she was looking at earlier with a black long sleeve shirt a pair of black flats like mine and a white sweater. Her long red hair is pulled back in a bun with a few strands hanging out. She smiles and playfully extends her elbow to me as we begin to walk down to dinner. "Hungry?" She asks me, as I half drag, half walk her along. "Maybe." I respond, giving her a sassy smile. I follow Isabelle to the cafeteria, where the buffet has everything from pizza to pasta. I love pasta. We don't have a lot of pasta in Amity, but when we do have it, I'll eat as much as I can hold. I drop Rose at the table where Isabelle is directing us to sit and make a beeline for the pasta. I load my plate with penne, alfredo sauce and sprinkle cheese and eat as much as I can hold.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Secret

**Light: If I owned Divergent, I wouldn't be sitting in my pajamas watching Modern Family. **

I lie on my bed, stuffed to the brim. I ate two platefuls and a huge ice cream sundae. It was delicious. I changed into my pajamas, Isabelle was nice and got each of us a pair. The lights have dimmed, and everyone but me is asleep. Or at least that's what I thought, until I felt a weight drop on the end, as I was just dozing off. I manage to lift my heavy eyelids and look at the end of the bed. It's Rose. Of course. She leans over me. "What is it?" I manage to ask. "I just wanted to talk to you." She says. Awake now, I ask "Does it have to be the middle of the night?" Rose gave me a pointed stare. "Yes. It does" "Okay, but why?" I ask her, "Yes, it matters." She gives me a stink-eye. " I wanted to tell you a secret." I'm curious now. "Sure, you can trust me. But you know that I can't lie, right?" She sighs, "I know, but I need to tell someone." I shrug. "okay, shoot." She bites her lip. "I've had a crush on you for 5 years now. SInce I was 11. I knew I was a lesbian when I was 10. I just knew. I saw you at school the next year and I thought, 'She is gorgeous.' and I've had a crush ever since." I just smile and hug her. "Can I go back to sleep now?" i ask her jokingly. She takes a breath."Now, that I've got that off my chest, yes." I give her another hug. "Now, get off my bed. I need my beauty sleep." I lay my head back and close my eyes and feel something just before I fall asleep. Something unexpected. A kiss on the cheek.


	5. Chapter 5 -The First stage of Initiation

**Shadow: *comes in with black eye and bleeding lip* Okay, so getting Tris to do the disclaimer was apparently more trouble than it was worth. Hey! Christina over here! **

**Christina: What do you want?**

**Shadow: Help with the disclaimer. Please?**

**Christina: Fine, fine. Neither Shadow or Light own Divergent. **

I wake up the next morning refreshed. Ready for training. Everyone but Rose is up. I get down off my bed and sit on her bed and poke her until she's awake. She stretches and yawns. "Time to get up, sleepyhead." I say, pulling out a pair of black jeans, a white short sleeve shirt with a little pocket on the front in black. I pull out my black and white jacket too. I grab my hair brush and go into the bathroom. I come out, pull on my socks and shoes. I pull my hair back in a bun. Rose goes into the bathroom, and returns a moment later, dressed and ready to go. We weren't give instructions last night about where to go in the morning. I check my watch, and at exactly 8:45, there is a knock on the door. I open the door to show Isabelle. "Is everyone ready to go?" We all nod. "Then follow me." Isabelle turns and walks out. We follow her though the black and white halls. We come to a room with several diagrams on the wall. There are desks in rows. "Take a seat, everyone. For the next week, we will be studying body language." We then descend into what seems like an endless week of body language.

**Shadow: This is the first time I've done a review message on the bottom, but please review. **


	6. Chapter 6 - The Day of the Test

**Shadow: I'm not gonna bother trying to find Tris, or Christina. It's way to much trouble, and in half of my trials, I got beat up. So I'm just gonna do it myself. Light an...**

**Four: I hate to think I made a special trip for nothing. **

**Shadow: Oh, my gods. *faints dead away***

**Four: Oh goodness. She's out cold, so I guess I'll just do the disclaimer. Neither Light or Shadow own Divergent.**

The day of the test. We arrive at the classroom, and sit down at our desks. Isabelle passes out our tests and we begin. Questions about body language, how to detect a liar and other similar skills. Essentially, how to become a human lie detector. The two hours we have seems to pass in a snap. We leave for lunch, which is good, because I'm famished. I load up with pasta and am about to go back to the table until, I bump into Mr. Arrogant-Face. I still have no idea what his name is. "Sorry," I say, and try to get around him, but he puts his hand on the buffet, blocking my path. I dislike him already. He smiles that stupid, arrogant smile of his. "Hello, sweetheart. I'm Andrew. What's your name?" I stare at him, "I'm Greta, Andrew. Now, excuse me, I would like to sit down and eat my lunch." I smile rather pointedly. "Fine. But if you want to talk, you know where to find me." He smiles again before letting me go. Rose makes a face behind his back. I go and sit next to her. "What did Mr. Arrogant-Face want?" She asks as I dig into my pasta. I swallow before answering. "Andrew wanted to know my name and tell me subtly he wanted to hook up. He even called me 'sweetheart'. It was horrifying." Rose shudders, "Oi, Greta. That is disgusting." I go to answer before the feedback of a microphone interrupts me. Isabelle's voice rings through the hall "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen! It is time to announce the rankings!" I'm only listening for my name. Maybe Rose's name. I barely hear first and second place. "In third place, Margaret Smith" I'm shocked, stunned even. Me? In third place? Rose leans over to me,"Judging by the shocked look, I'm guessing your full name is Margaret." I shake myself out of the stupor. "Yeah, I figured, new faction, new name. I went with Greta." Rose shrugs. "Seems legit." With our small conversation we missed fourth place. "In fifth place, Rosaline Grant." Isabelle announces. I give Rose a smile. "Not bad, Rose." Not bad yourself, Greta," She says giving me a nudge. I totally miss the rest of us. I think I heard Andrew was in seventh place. Pretty bad, I'd say. Isabelle finishes her speech and Rose and I get up and head back to the dormitory to relax. I get up on my bunk bed and lay back. Suddenly super tired, I fall asleep, and sleep straight through to breakfast the next morning.

**Shadow: I feel woozy. What happened? Anyway, please review!**


End file.
